The NCAA News - Briefly in the News

April 27, 1997

Golfers from Texas Tech University and throughout West Texas gathered April 13 in Lubbock to participate in the "100 Holes of Golf Marathon."

The event, coordinated by the Texas Tech Student-Athlete Advisory Board, raised approximately $30,000.

A portion of the money raised will benefit the Stoney Garland Fund, established when Garland, a member of the Tech football team, was critically injured this past Thanksgiving in an automobile accident. He remains partially paralyzed.

"Stoney has a long road of recovery ahead of him," said teammate and advisory board president Keith Cockrum. "We wanted to do something to help him get down that road and hopefully get back here to earn his degree."

Participants were asked to raise a minimum of $500 each either through pledges of $10, $5, $2, or $1 per hole or a one-time gift amount.

Each of the 50 golfers turned in amounts ranging from $500 to $7,500.

Many of the golfers, running low on energy by afternoon, were inspired to finish the marathon by the sight of Garland driving around the course in his motorized wheelchair.

"I can't say enough about the courage, strength and faith that young man has," said Red Raider head football coach Spike Dykes, who also participated in the golf event.

A significant portion of the funds also went toward the Lubbock Special Olympics, which were held April 17 and 18.

"The response for this event was simply overwhelming," said Steve Uryasz, associate athletic director for academic services.

"Special Olympics and Stoney Garland are household phrases in West Texas, and West Texans are generous people. Our expectations were set high, but this generosity certainly exceeded them," Uryasz added.

Because of the generous response, there will even be money left over to benefit the Texas Tech Athletic Academic Services, which provide academic, personal and career support for student-athletes at the university.

McMurry goes batty

Known for its often record-breaking scoring in basketball, Grinnell College came out on the other end of a high-scoring contest last month.

McMurry University's baseball team scored in every inning to roll to a 40-1 win over the Pioneers in the second day of the Abilene Intercollegiate Classic. The game was called due to the 12-run rule in the seventh inning.

The margin of victory was the second-largest in the history of Division III baseball, right behind Methodist College's 43-0 victory over Maryville College (Tennessee) in 1991.

Several other NCAA Division III team records were threatened in the contest, which ranked second in most runs scored and tied for third in RBIs with 32.

A number of McMurry University records were also set in the contest.

McMurry head coach Lee Driggers made 16 substitutions over the span of seven innings, allowing 24 team members to play. Sixteen McMurry players recorded a hit, eight had multiple-hit games, and 13 recorded at least one RBI.

Contest announced

Have you taken a great soccer photo? Or have you written a great story about soccer? If so, the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) wants to hear from you.

NSCAA is sponsoring its fourth annual writing contest and its first-ever photography contest.

The writing contest will feature four categories: deadline/game stories; feature stories; column; and college. Stories published during the 1998 calendar are eligible, and the entry deadline is December 4, 1998.

The photography contest will feature five categories: published; unpublished; color action; color feature; and general interest. Submitted photos must be taken between December 1997 and December 1998, and the entry deadline is December 4, 1998.

For a complete copy of the rules for either contest, call Mike McFarland, NSCAA, at 800/458-0678.

--Compiled by Kay Hawes

Division I notes

Facilities: The Louisiana Senate has endorsed a plan to pay for a $35 million expansion of Tiger Stadium at Louisiana State University. The legislation would allow the Tiger Athletic Foundation to undertake a 10,000-seat stadium expansion and use revenue gained from the new seats to pay for the work. One thousand of the seats would be reserved for LSU students.

The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga recently opened its Stadium of 1,000 Dreams, a new 3,500-seat softball facility. The $2.6 million project contains 2,000 grandstand seats.

Work is to begin this fall on a $500,000 expansion of the clubhouse at University Ridge Golf Course, the course of the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Sports sponsorship: Monmouth University (New Jersey) has announced the addition of women's golf as a varsity sport, beginning this fall ... Southwest Texas State University has added women's soccer to its athletics program, effective in fall 1999. Southwest Texas State also announced that it is discontinuing men's tennis after this season....Wisconsin's athletics board officially added women's ice hockey (see the April 20 issue of The NCAA News).

Milestones: Coaches -- Gene Depew, Bucknell University, 250 career victories in baseball ... Richard "Itch" Jones, University of Illinois, Champaign, 1,000 career victories in baseball ... Glenn Thiel, Pennsylvania State University, 150 victories in 21 years as Nittany Lion men's lacrosse coach ... Eugene Lenti, De Paul University, 500 career victories in women's softball ... Mike McGovern, University of Illinois at Chicago, 400 career victories in women's softball ... Connie Miner, San Jose State University, 300 career victories in women's softball ... Rene Portland, Pennsylvania State University, became the ninth NCAA coach to win 500 women's basketball games with a victory over Indiana University, Bloomington, in the Women's National Invitation Tournament. Portland also gained her 400th victory at Penn State December 28 ... Lana Flynn Richmond, Southeast Missouri State University, 500 career victories in women's softball ... Tommy Thompson, Bucknell, 1,000 career victories in men's golf.

Miscellaneous: Joni Herschede, a member of the University of Cincinnati's board of trustees, recently donated $2 million to fund athletics scholarships.

-- Compiled by David Pickle